Crate progress :)

I posted in the latest Diary installment that Stormy was asking to go out a little often during the night. I was hesitant to deny her because she's still a baby and I didn't want a mess in the crate. But last night, she went into the crate at 10 pm, then whined at 11:30 (hmmm... but she did pee when I took her out), then again at 1:30 (double hmmm... but I took her out), and then when 3:30 rolled around and she whined AGAIN, I told her "hush" a couple of times. She kept barking and I gave myself a mental limit of 10 minutes=she actually needs out- and with some grumbles she quieted down in less than 5 minutes.

I think she is at the point she understands whining in the crate at night gets me out if I pee when I go out. I do agree that she's still very young (and not completely house broken??) so I'd err on the side of caution and let her out. That being said I think you're doing the right thing by waiting a short period before you do take her out. One thing I did during these zero dark thirty outings was to not talk to the dogs (other than to say "good pee/poo") and putting them back in the crate as soon as business was done. I also gave then a small treat when putting them back in the crate.

You know though she really should be able to hold it all night by now. Are you limiting access to water a few hours before bed? So like with Hemi, we went to bed at about 11:30 so at 9:00 the water bowl was put up. At 6:30 a.m. I did make sure going out to pee was the priority even before I went.

Stormy is making great progress in her crate training , BUT it sounds like maybe she is also testing her ability to get some attention-she is a very smart pup!! Ads as Jeff said, remove the water earlier in the evening may help.

One thing I did during these zero dark thirty outings was to not talk to the dogs (other than to say "good pee/poo") and putting them back in the crate as soon as business was done. I also gave then a small treat when putting them back in the crate.

Yep, that's my MO. She whines, I get my shoes and coat on, take her out of the crate and carry her to the yard (to minimize her attempts to run around the bedroom looking for toys), tell her "go potty", she pees, we go back inside, into the crate with small cookie.

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You know though she really should be able to hold it all night by now. Are you limiting access to water a few hours before bed? So like with Hemi, we went to bed at about 11:30 so at 9:00 the water bowl was put up. At 6:30 a.m. I did make sure going out to pee was the priority even before I went.

I pick up the water at 8 pm. She's still a peeing machine, but more problematic is she sometimes poops at night. But if I can get up just once at night, that's ahuge improvement!

Have you considered a wire crate instead of a kennel? I feel puppies do better in a wire crate because they can "see" you and may feel more comfortable then being confined in a kennel type of crate that has limited vision for them.

When our Lab was a puppy, he hated the "kennel" but when we switched to a wire crate, he did so much better.

One thing someone suggested that I thought was genius, was setting your own alarm to let her out. So, if she gets up at 11pm, 2am and 5am, set your alarm for 10:55pm, 1:55am and 4:55am, to take her out. Then, slowly set the alarm later. Now, I don't know how this works with three times. Do you eventually nix one, then the other? That's something you'd have to play with. The advice was for a puppy that insisted on going out at like 4am every morning even though he was a medium breed pup that was old and mature enough to hold it longer.

And yeah, she should not need to "go" so much. I'd consider testing her urine, see if she has a UTI or something. And, if you're going to take her out so much, you might not pick up her water. Denying them of water is not the healthiest practice, mentally or physically, and since you're taking her out so much, I don't see the purpose.

I've never once picked up the water for Presto and he's never asked to go out at night. My other two were not into going out every night either. Maybe the first week, and just once. I know all puppies are different, but either she has a UTI or she thinks this is what you want her to do. How does she self-soothe? Do you keep a bully stick or something in there for when she wakes up at night?